Government Gone Mad (Guest Voice)
Government Gone Mad
by Joel S. Hirschhorn
Perhaps most Americans deserve the federal government they have. A government that, contrary to the lofty rhetoric of Barack Obama, is pure politics as usual. A government that is as corrupted by moneyed interests as ever. A government that is as dysfunctional and inefficient as ever.
A government that should have prevented the current recession but did not and now has spent horrendous amounts of money that has largely been wasted. A government that has put many future generations in debt. A government that makes a mockery out of the concept of democracy.
As Robert J. Samuelson has aptly said, the federal $787 billion stimulus package is “mostly a political exercise, designed to claim credit for any recovery, shower benefits on favored constituencies and signal support for fashionable causes. As a result, much of the stimulus’s potential benefit has been squandered.”
The result is that most Americans hit hard by the recession have seen very few meaningful benefits. Unemployment not only has mounted, but will surely keep increasing and may well approach 15 percent nationally. Indeed, it is already that bad in some places, like Michigan.
If there was ever something that should have sparked a Second American Revolution it is the Goldman Sachs story in this recession. Goldman Sachs reported that it earned $3.44 billion in the second quarter, and is preparing its largest bonus payout in history. Did this company with so many former executives running the federal government’s financial system manage this strictly on its own merits? Not exactly. It received a $10 billion injection of TARP funds to help it handle the fiscal crisis. It was allowed to convert itself into a commercial bank and member of the Federal Reserve system, gaining access to low or zero cost capital at the Fed Discount window and access to federally guaranteed borrowing through the FDIC Temporary Liquidity Guaranty Program. And it had the good fortune (literally) to receive a $13 billion payout of federal dollars at one hundred cents on the dollar for its outstanding credit default swap contracts with AIG.
Was all this recession garbage the change we were waiting for? Have we seen anything other than politics as usual?
No.
The whole Obama story and the Democratic control of Congress are a disgrace. Progressives who eagerly supported Obama should be ashamed of themselves. They should be leading a revolution, not make excuses for Obama and the Democrats.
The icing on the corruption cake will probably be phony and delusional health care reform, as stupid and deceptive as all the federal efforts at reversing the recession. It could not be clearer that most Democrats are totally under the thrall of the health insurance industry. How do you explain the incontrovertible fact that even though the US spends more money per capita on health care than any other nation we have some of the worst health statistics of any nation? Simple. A huge fraction of the national spending on health care goes to the private health insurance industry.
Does the US offer some of the very best health care in the world? Yes, but unless you are wealthy or have terrific health insurance, like members of Congress have, you will not have affordable access to that terrific health care.
So our national statistics stink because such a huge fraction of the population does not get the first rate health care.
When he campaigned Obama said he supported single payer universal health care. But not now. Unless we get rid of the dominant private health insurance industry and replace it with an extension of Medicare, we will not get true and necessary reform. Nor will we really see decreases in health care costs. Nor will all people get effective health insurance.
As I feared, Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress are giving us government gone mad, exactly what most Americans deserve.
Don’t hold your breath for the populist revolution.
Joel S. Hirschhorn is not a fan of either party. To find out more visit delusionaldemocracy.com
5 Responses to “Government Gone Mad (Guest Voice)”
Why does TMV allow folks to post random rants without any facts to back them up? This is just a bunch of accusations and generalizations with nary anything of value. This is talk radio stuff.
“When he campaigned Obama said he supported single payer universal health care. But not now”
Actually he said that if we were starting from scratch, single payer would be best but based on our current system adding a public insurance option is the best option right now.
It's hard to take this type of post seriously when all it does is complain, misrepresent facts and not provide any evidence for their point of view beyond their opinions. Also, being told that we 'deserve' a screwed up government is fairly insulting. Especially when I didn't vote for the party that managed to screw up the economy, get us involved in two wars and increase the national debt to a point where any change is difficult.
“Don’t hold your breath for the populist revolution”…Count on it!
Capitalists run this country, not the people. People are not important to capitalists. To a capitalist people are either a resource to be exploited, such as a congressman, or, a liability to be discarded such as someone who needs healthcare. Capitalists don't care about the United States. If all goes south in America, they still have their property in Zurich or somewhere. Capitalists can only take and there is a limit to how much can be taken before the national psyche snaps.
Er, uh, yeah, I agree. The whole maddening thing about this, Mr. Joel, is where in the hell were you when BUSH screwed up over and over again. Where were your screams about a budget deficit? Where are your stories about how the Iraq war was unnecessary and a drain on the economy, even after reading stories about soldiers DYING by simply taking a shower? You must have a short memory, dude, because the economy crashed BEFORE the election. Don't try to rewrite history. YOUR party screwed up. Obama has been handed an economy in the worst shape since the great depression, and you expect results in 6 months? While your guy screwed us over for eight years?
All republicans have been doing for the last eight years is bitching and moaning about everything that didn't center around you. We were called terrorists, anti-American and other assorted crap for EIGHT YEARS, not even doing or saying 1/8th of what your side has shouted from the rooftops for SIX MONTHS. For SIX MONTHS all you guys have been doing and saying is ANTI-GOVERNMENT. Explain why all of a sudden you're anti-government, anti everything, trying to whip folks into a frenzy SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU LOST AN ELECTION.
That's why no one, save few, respects the republican party. You're hypocrites of the highest order. You're the devil's christians. When republicans screw up, well, it's anyone's fault but yours. My kids learned to take responsibility for their actions while they were still in diapers, but grown men blaming everyone else? Please.
When people like you and Beck and Limbaugh and Hannity and Coulter and O'Reilly start taking responsibility for what republicans have done to this country in the last eight years, maybe we'll start listening. Until then, don't go away mad, just go away.
For the record, in recent years I wrote countless articles against Republicans and the Bush administration; you can access them at opednews.com and searchwarp.com. My book Delusional Democracy and many, many articles advocate for the critical need for a competitive third party and condemn the two-party plutocracy. I am also a co-founder of a group working to make Congress obey the Constitution and give us the first Article V convention; check out foavc.org.